Optic Nerve: Massive Webcam Spying Program Exposed

Britain's surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal. GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 explicitly state that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to agency databases, regardless of whether individual users were an intelligence target or not. In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery -- including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications -- from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally... The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

*Read more here from Spencer Ackerman and James Ball / The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/...

What others and I always suspected is this right here, in this quote.

"Optic Nerve was just one of a series of GCHQ efforts at biometric detection, whether for target recognition or general security.

While the documents do not detail efforts as widescale as those against Yahoo users, one presentation discusses with interest the potential and capabilities of the Xbox 360's Kinect camera, saying it generated "fairly normal webcam traffic" and was being evaluated as part of a wider program.

Documents previously revealed in the Guardian showed the NSA were exploring the video capabilities of game consoles for surveillance purposes.

Microsoft, the maker of Xbox, faced a privacy backlash last year when details emerged that the camera bundled with its new console, the Xbox One, would be always-on by default."

Right now, everything is being recording through Kinect. Your voice, your face. If you don't believe so, I got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Tax dollars still being wasted left and right at the NSA and Pentagon.

I know the NSA is spying through all webcams and if not them, it's the GCHQ. They're targeting people that aren't even suspects. Personally, I unplug my desktop camera when it's not in use. I mean, its creepy knowing it's true.Watch the entire video because it's not just about Kinect. It's everything that's always on.

It's one thing to expose oneself, but to have an unauthorized, unnecessary, foreign or domestic third party is disheartening. Do you think you're smart phone is safer?......(chuckles). Siri records your voice just as easily. Finger print scanners are normalizing. I can imagine for the first forged or staged crime scene with finger print replication. Just wanted to share and read what you think.

[DuB]

The British used to spy on US it's called NERV, kinda like NGE Anime. I heard of it called the Eschalon program years ago.

mhmm.

[bunfighterii]

Hopefully their not spying on Skype too.

[Roccetarius]

They don't need to. MS is doing that for them.

[DuB]

skype , confirmed. I tested already. Had a rolly show up real quick.

[SilentNegotiator]

Anyone that thinks Kinect (via Xbox) won't eventually be a part of spying is a complete fool. MS was the first to be a part of prism with little resistance (unlike Yahoo, who has taken a lot of actual legal action) and they will gladly allow Xbox LIVE to be next.

If they're interested in snatching up webcam photos, why not ones from people using Kinect? Hell, there's MORE info to be gotten from a Kinect than a regular webcam.

[maniacmayhem]

"Hell, there's MORE info to be gotten from a Kinect than a regular webcam."

How in all the world do you figure that?? First of all Google and MS has taken the NSA to court over the privacy issue. There has been a number of articles about this. (that fail to make it here on N4G)

http://www.engadget.com/201...

First of all if the government asks a company to turn over documents because there might be a national security threat, you expect that company to say no?

Second, users do more personal and social activities on a PC than anything done on a dedicated gaming console. How would MORE info be taken from the Kinect?

[SilentNegotiator]

They were just taking still images, supposedly, from webcams. A Kinect can capture more than a basic photo.

[DragonKnight]

I can't believe how much you defend Microsoft and yet don't know the simplest and most basic features of the Kinect.

No PC camera is being sold to the mass market that can read biometric data like the Kinect does. The Kinect can allegedly read facial expressions, heart rate, ocular fluctuations, etc.. There is a crap ton more information that you can get from Kinect than your average webcam.

Microsoft's participation in "fighting" the NSA against this has been superficial at best. The most they want is some level of transparency, NOT to have themselves be removed from, or immune to, violating customer privacy. By having government backing, they can sell the biometric data that Kinect gathers to countless advertisers. The Kinect definitely holds a camera feed that can be watched, some have been able to access it on their own.

Yes I expect that company to say no. Especially when that company is as big as Microsoft and is responsible for a lot of funding the government receives. What is the government going to do? Prevent them from doing business? Then they'll get sued for extortion, they'll lose billions in funding, and every dirty little secret they don't want to come out will come out.

"Second, users do more personal and social activities on a PC than anything done on a dedicated gaming console."

So what? Does that make any of this ok?

[maniacmayhem]

@Dragon
And there is lot more tons of crap that a hacker can get from a personal computer. SS, Credit Cards, Home Address, Passwords, Banking statements, Access to emails, Chat logs, etc. etc.

Way more than this ridiculous nonsense and feud you have with Kinect. For a person who is so blind by Sony love you fail to see anything else.

"Microsoft's participation in "fighting" the NSA against this has been superficial at best..."

More conspiracy and assumptions from you without one shred of evidence. No matter what MS does you will never believe it as you come up with your own wild theories on what really is happening behind the scenes.

news flash, every big company sells your data to marketing agencies. Google, Facebook, and anywhere else you mainly visit. But your obsession that MS is the only one wrong for doing it is laughable and just shows you narrow view on a larger picture.

"The Kinect can allegedly read facial expressions, heart rate, ocular fluctuations, etc.."

Allegedly, so you yourself have no knowledge on how the Kinect works and yet you say:

"yet don't know the simplest and most basic features of the Kinect."

So does it or does it allegedly do all those things you stated. Do you even know?

Does it make it ok?? Jesus, I was responding to a statement that Silent made as explained in my first paragraph. It had nothing to do with me saying it was ok.

@Silent
The Kinect can do more than a basic photo? Like what Silent?

[SilentNegotiator]

"The Kinect can do more than a basic photo? Like what Silent?"

Depth and infrared.

"Second, users do more personal and social activities on a PC than anything done on a dedicated gaming console"

All they were doing was grabbing millions of random images of people using their webcams...why the NOT take a bunch of random images from gaming consoles, too? Better yet, images with depth/IR data? Their immediate agenda is much more obtuse than you give it credit; they're just soaking up data.

[maniacmayhem]

@Silent

See here's the thing that baffles me about why you two are arguing, NONE of this has happened using Kinect.

Plus, what would depth and infrared accomplish?

Why not grab a pic, plus personal info, email logs, chat logs and anything else stored on a PC. I think that would be a lot more valuable then a pic with 3D depth right?

You guys are thinking too small and focusing only on Kinect. Their immediate agenda is not known to anyone, especially anyone on N4G and I am sure it involves way more than them thinking about using Kinect to spy on you.

[sgtGanGreen]

HAHAHAHA I can just say lol to this.
Get a life people